Unexpected Complications
by Chibi-Kogitsune
Summary: When a strange Hollow reveals that Hisana's sickness is seemingly genetic, Rukia is devastated, to say nothing of Byakuya. Ichigo swears to find a cure; that he won't let her die. Knowing Ichigo, that will probably come to pass, but what does Unohana know, and why is she not telling them?


Ichigo and Rukia exchanged glances. This was no ordinary Hollow, and yet it was not Gillian, Aduchas, Vasto Lorde or even Arrancar. Rukia just couldn't put her finger on it, and from the look on his face, neither could Ichigo. They had been battling it out on the fringes of Karakura town for nearly 20 minutes now. It was the middle of winter, so there was snow and black ice galore, making it very hard to find secure footing, much less evade attacks. Even so, up until this point, not one of them had so much as touched the other. It was getting to be quite taxing. . . .

Never-the-less, the carrot-topped Soul Reaper looked like he was itching to release his Ban-Kai and just finish the fight, but he knew he couldn't. Not in the World of the Living . . . at least, not without his limiter (which had been inbuilt into his Deputy bade the last time he visited squad twelve) which he had promptly forgotten to bring.

The thing was, ever since Ichigo had regained his powers, he had needed a limiter to prevent his spiritual pressure from harming any souls in the area that weren't strong enough to handle it. That was _why_ they were on the fringes in the first place. Something the Captain General had given him was advice on how to keep his powers in check. On this, Yamamoto really was an expert. Centuries of having to keep a tight rein on his spiritual pressure in order to prevent him from killing everyone in the Seiretei had given him a knack for it.

**". . . Your guard's down . . ."**

Rukia was snapped out of her reverie as the Hollow took a swing at her. She leapt out of the way, but her foot slipped on some concealed black ice, and the tip of the Hollow's claws grazed her arm. It hurt, but it wasn't serious . . . she wasn't even sure that the attack had drawn blood, but for some reason, she felt extremely lightheaded and dizzy. _Wait . . . don't tell that his claws are covered in poison . . . !_ She whipped her head around to her arm to see if there was any change in the wound.

Bad idea . . .

Her lightheaded-ness quickly turned to nausea, and Rukia had no choice but to say hello to her lunch as it made its way back up. It was awful; she couldn't stop, even when she had emptied her stomach, she kept having dry hurls. _Damn that Hollow . . ._ Tears running down her face, throat burning, she passed out in the snow, landing with a small thud.

Ichigo turned away from the Hollow, glancing around. He heard gagging—no, scratch that—someone was throwing up. But the only one here apart from himself was . . . _Rukia . . . !_ He glanced in her direction, just in time to see her collapse face-down in the snow, next to a pile of vomit. Completely forgetting about the Hollow, Ichigo ran over to her, avoiding the vomit, and turned her over, onto her back. She looked pale . . . _too_ pale, her breathing was uneven and she was covered in a cold sweat. Something was definitely wrong with Squad 13's Lieutenant.

He had to get her to Squad 4. Fast. He sheathed Zangetsu and picked her up . . .

Yet another bad idea . . .

The sudden movement re-aroused Rukia's nausea and she coughed up bile onto Ichigo's Shihakushō. Now normally, Ichigo would have gone ballistic, but, given the circumstances, he didn't mind . . . although he did make a mental note to take a long, hot shower as soon as he got home.

He glared at the Hollow which, surprisingly, had not moved the entire time. "What. Have. You. _Done_?" he ground out, seething, but not expecting an answer.

**"I-I don't know! I swear I don't know! I-I didn't think you'd be this strong and I . . . I don't know! It was ****_instinct_****!"** the Hollow babbled.

"Instinct? You blame _this_ on _instinct_?"

**"I-It was self-defence!"** the Hollow almost squeaked, looking very unsure of itself. Ichigo growled at the Hollow and flash-stepped away. Even though he was practically _itching_ to cut that Hollow down, it wasn't exactly in his top priorities right about now. He signalled the Hell Butterfly that had accompanied Rukia, and told the Soul Reapers on the other side to open the Senkaimon. "This is Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper!" he yelled "This is an emergency! Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki is down, she needs urgent treatment!" he spoke formally, because, based on past experiences, they were more likely to listen to him if he spoke politely, as much as he hated the idea.

"Mr. Kurosaki, p-please, c-calm down," it was Rin, and from the sound of it, all of

Ichigo's yelling had panicked him. "I-I am opening the Senkaimon as we speak. Squad 4 has been dispatched and will be waiting for you on the other side. I—" he seemed to be interrupted, and then Ichigo heard a new voice from the Hell Butterfly.

"Kurosaki," it was Captain Unohana. How she had gotten into the Squad 12 barracks he did not know, but that wasn't exactly important right now. "What can you tell me of the Lieutenant's condition? What are her symptoms?"

Ichigo calmed somewhat, and as he entered the Senkaimon, he told the Captain everything he could about Rukia's condition as he ran.

". . . and then she passed out, face-down in the snow. I turned her over, and she was pale—she still is—and her breathing is uneven. That Hollow must have had some sort of poison, but when I checked, I couldn't see any kind of wound, and as far as I could tell, there was no miasma . . ." He paused, feeling Rukia stir in his arms. ". . . Rukia . . . ?" he whispered, half expecting her to throw up on him again. He was close enough. She started coughing; a dry, almost asthma-ish cough, not unlike her Captain's.

It took Ichigo a second to realise; Rukia wasn't inhaling. She was coughing too much for her to get the chance to do so properly. She was gasping, but she still wasn't getting enough air. "Come on, Rukia!" Ichigo coaxed, "come on, breathe! Breathe you stupid midget! Come on! Breathe!" Ichigo tried everything he could do while running, but she wasn't letting up, so Ichigo resorted to flash-step.

As he came out of the Senkaimon, Ichigo was greeted by more than just Squad 4. There was Byakuya, Renji, and Ukitake, to name a few. Most of Squad 13 was there as well, hearing that their Lieutenant was in bad shape. As Unohana and the rest of Squad 4 took over, Ichigo turned to face Byakuya, Renji, and Ukitake. He prepared himself for the bombardment of questions, but stopped short as he laid eyes on Byakuya.

Byakuya's usual poker face had been replaced by one of acute worry. He looked like he wanted to fuss over his sister and do something to help, but strict Kuchiki training rooted him in place.

Ichigo and Renji stared. This was the most emotion they had ever seen on the face of the usually stuck-up Squad 6 Captain, and if he hadn't known Byakuya as a child, Ukitake would probably have stared too, but instead he focused his attention on his Lieutenant, who had recovered from her coughing fit and was now being treated by Squad 4. She was conscious, but barely.

Rukia's eyes drifted over to a certain carrot topped strawberry. "Ichi . . . go" she mumbled, intending to speak to him about that Hollow that they had faced earlier, but instead of turning and coming over, he started walking in the opposite direction!

". . . Wait . . . Ichigo . . ." she mumbled again, this time catching the attention of a certain clumsy 7th seat.

Hanataro stared. He couldn't have heard what he thought he just did, could he? "M-Miss Rukia . . . ?"

". . . Come back . . ."

"Eh?"

". . . Ichigo . . ."

Hanataro's eyes widened. Getting up, he went over to his Captain and whispered something in her ear. Unohana's eyes too, widened, and then softened. "Ichigo Kurosaki," she said. Her voice, soft and sympathising, caught his attention. "Lieutenant Kuchiki would like to speak with you."

Unohana's words came as a shock to almost everyone there. If Rukia had wanted to speak to someone, then surely that person would be her brother, or maybe Lieutenant Abarai, right? Why the Substitute Soul Reaper?

Ichigo flashed over, and knelt down to Rukia's left. ". . . Yo, midget," he teased softly. Ichigo half expected Rukia to punch him in the face, or at least elbow him in the stomach, but he could tell, just by looking, that it was taking every last ounce of her strength to just stay conscious. It was unsettling . . . **(A/N: think about episode 118 of bleach, when Rukia is being healed by Orihime)**

Rukia looked down, ". . . I . . . I'm . . . sorry . . ."

Ichigo looked dumbfounded. "'Sorry'? Sorry for what?"

"That Hollow . . . it . . . it should have been easy . . . I'm a . . . Lieutenant now . . . I should be strong enough . . . to kill it . . ."

"Hey now, look at me, huh? Everyone says that my spiritual powers are on par with that of a _Captain's_, and yet, _I_ couldn't kill it either, could I? So don't go saying that it's your fault when you know it isn't! Hell, if anyone's to blame it should be _me_! _I'm_ the one who forgot my limiter, not you. You did nothing wrong, so don't apologise."

Rukia closed her eyes and smiled. ". . . Thank . . . you . . ."

Ichigo sighed, "I don't need your thanks either . . . Midget."

Rukia cracked an eye open at the annoying nickname. "Shut up . . . Strawberry . . ." she said as she finally gave in and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

**_". . . Your guard's down . . ."_**

_Why did the Hollow sound almost sad? Why did it evade, but never attack, save for attacking her? It was only in self-defence that it attacked in the first place . . . why had it seemed so reluctant to fight a couple of Soul Reapers, a Hollow's sworn enemy . . . ?_

When Rukia woke, she was in the Squad 4 barracks. She was alone in a small room, with nothing in it but a small writing table, a couple of cushions, and the futon she was lying in. She could hear people talking outside the room, but their words seemed to jumble up together, almost as if she were under water, but as she became more aware of her surroundings, she was able to make out some of what they were saying.

". . . thoroughly examined the results of the blood test, and there seems to be no trace of poison in her system," said Unohana.

"Really? That's great! . . . But then, why is she so sick?"

"That brings me to my other discovery . . . I'm sorry, Captain Kuchiki, Kurosaki, but I'm afraid that Rukia has the same sickness as Hisana. As before, there is nothing that I or the rest of the Squad can do other than ease her pain . . ."

"Are you saying that she's gonna— . . . there must be _something_ you can do, right?"

"I wish that I could say yes, Kurosaki, but . . . I'm afraid I cannot."

_The same as Hisana . . . ? Ease my pain . . . ?_ Rukia thought, curling her hands into fists._ Don't tell me that I— _

"Oh! Miss Rukia, you're awake!" cried Hanataro as he came in with a fresh cloth for her forehead.

"Hanataro . . ." se mumbled, marvelling at how cracked and weak-sounding her voice was

"How are you feeling, Miss Rukia?"

She groaned, "Like I've been hit by a thousand kidō"

Hanataro laughed as he replaced the cloth on her forehead for the clean one, "I'm guessing that you feel better now than you did before though, am I right?" He said as she eased herself up into a sitting position.

_Hanataro's smiling so easily . . . does that mean he doesn't know? _Rukia thought to herself, looking down at her hands. _. . . Does Renji know for that matter?_

"You're right," she said instead, returning the smile, "I do feel a little better, I mean, at least I'm not fighting to breathe anymore, and at least I have the strength to sit up, but I don't think that I would be able to keep my food down for more than two seconds. . . ."

Just then, Unohana came into the room, followed by Ichigo and Byakuya. Seeing her awake, Unohana took the chance to give Rukia a more thorough check up. Seeing that the only change was that Rukia was conscious, Unohana decided it was time to tell Rukia the news.

"Kuchiki," she began, but was cut off.

"I know," said Rukia, "I know that I have the same sickness that killed my sister, and I know that there's nothing you can do about it. I heard you before . . ."

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't!" she cried, shaking her head, "You don't need to. It's not your fault at all! No one's at fault here, so—"

Rukia couldn't finish her sentence. The coughing started again, bringing everyone else in the room to their feet.

"Hanataro, go and retrieve the medicine that I prepared earlier! You know where it is."

"Yes Captain!"

As Hanataro left the room, everyone returned their attention to Rukia. Byakuya and Unohana were, to say the least, quite surprised at what they saw. Ichigo had the look of a seasoned doctor in his eye as he turned to Byakuya. "Byakuya, go get some water. We need to keep her hydrated; otherwise her body will go into lockdown. It already has once today, and another shutdown would only worsen her condition. The water will also dilute the acids in her stomach, because without food, the stomach acids concentrate and the body can't handle it so it gets rid of it. Stomach acids are corrosive, so, as you can probably imagine, the throat takes quite a lot of damage as well. Unohana, go grab some sort of bucket, just in case."

Byakuya and Unohana stared. Ichigo was like a completely different person as soon as Rukia had started coughing. He had this sort of conviction that compelled the two captains to do as he asked without question. _Everything Ichigo said is true and relevant to the situation, yet he doesn't have any sort of training— . . . no, that's wrong,_ Unohana corrected herself, _he lives in a doctor's clinic, and so it is to be expected._ Unohana mused as she left the room with Byakuya.

Ichigo's medical side had kicked in. He knew that he needed to calm her down somehow, to stop her from agitating the situation. He raked his brains for anything he could do to calm her, and he suddenly remembered a conversation he'd had with Ukitake the day before.

**~flashback~ **

_Ukitake sighed, "That Kaien, he really did have a way with people . . . he made them want to follow him, he made them feel safe . . . but most of all, he made them want to be his friend . . . he had this warmth, you see, and it's something I've never been able to put my finger on."_

_"You know, I've heard Urahara say something like that about _me_." Ichigo laughed. "He said I had a gift; that I was a natural leader, but I don't like thinking that way. I protect people, and if they follow me because of that, it's because they chose to."_

_"Kaien also thought that way. He had this kind of aura surrounding him, and I feel the same kind of aura coming from you." Ukitake laughed softly, "You may not believe it, but Rukia used to follow him around like a puppy, and he always managed to calm her just by doing this," Ukitake reached out and rested his hand on top of Ichigo's head, and Ichigo suddenly remembered his dad doing something like this when he was little. He closed his eyes and felt himself relax under Ukitake's hand. Ukitake chuckled, "I see it works on you too then, huh?"_

**~end flashback~**

Ichigo reached out and placed his hand on Rukia's head and smiled at her, like someone looking at a frustrated younger sibling. He gave a little huff, "You always were one to agitate a situation, weren't you, Rukia?"

Byakuya and Unohana came back in, but stopped short at the doorway, taking stock of the situation.

Ichigo's theory worked. Rukia's coughs became less violent, and as her shoulders began to relax, the rest of her body followed suit. In no time at all, Rukia had stopped . . .

. . . Just as Hanataro came back in with the medicine.

Unohana was dumbfounded. "K-Kurosaki, how did you do that . . . ? I mean to say, what did you just do?"

Without moving his hand, Ichigo replied, "Well, it was just something that my old man used to do when I was little, and it always seemed to do the trick on me, so I thought that it might work . . . and, well, it did." He shrugged.

Meanwhile, Rukia had caught her breath, and was having a hard time trying to keep her emotions in check.

_That is exactly what Kaien used to do to me when I was upset or angry about something . . . and that time that there was a fight among the squad members, and I had tried to stop them, but made the situation worse instead and ran off crying. . . . He said the exact same thing to me . . . ! Same actions, same tone of voice, even the same _expression_ . . . ! How can all that be just coincidence?_

Rukia didn't know how to feel; she didn't know whether to cry, get angry at him, laugh, or just stay quiet. In the end, her body decided for her: she cried.

At first, it was just a few stray tears, seemingly left over from the coughing fit. She tried to wipe them away, but they just kept on coming, they wouldn't stop . . . her bottom lip trembled as she tried to keep herself from sobbing, afraid that it might bring on another attack. That was when Ichigo and the others caught on.

Ichigo lifted his hand from its place on Rukia's head as he felt her trembling. "Rukia? What is it, what's wrong?" Ichigo said it in such a Kaien-like way, that her efforts were in vain, and she sobbed; hard.

Ichigo moved his legs so that he was sitting cross-legged and replaced his hand on top of Rukia's head. "Hey now, Midget, what're you crying for, eh?" he said to her, in the tone of voice he usually only reserved for Yuzu when he was trying to keep her from crying over something insignificant like Karin eating the last Konpeito or something like that.

"It's you, idiot," she said in between sobs.

Ichigo blushed "Wait, what?"

"_You're_ the one that agitates a situation, not me, so why'd you say that?"

Ichigo got a big cheeky grin on his face as he replied, "Oh, gee, I dunno, maybe 'cause it was _true_?"

That was it. Rukia's resolve crumpled, and she threw herself into Ichigo, not caring what it looked like to anyone else.

Well, Ichigo was surprised, to say the least, his eyebrows taking up residence somewhere in his hairline. _This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder._ He thought, _First that strange Hollow shows up, Rukia gets injured by said Hollow and throws up on me, then Unohana tells us that the sickness that killed Hisana is genetic, Byakuya's having a nervous breakdown in the hallway, and now Rukia is sobbing on my chest. Yes, I'd say it has been a very weird day._

**_"Nah shit, Sherlock."_**Ogichi drawled; his voice almost as soaked with sarcasm as Ichigo's Shihakushō was withRukia's tears.

_"You know," _he shot back,_ "there's this little thing called _sarcasm_. You of all people should know what it is."_

_"You should also know by now, Ogichi, that annoying Ichigo never really bodes well for you."_That comment from Zangetsu seemed to shut the Hollow up, much to Ichigo's relief.

Much to _Byakuya's_ relief however, was the fact that Rukia had finally stopped crying, her tears now replaced by a fierce blush as she noticed her position. Curled up in Ichigo's lap, she started to splutter incoherent sentences, her face as red as Renji's hair. Glad that the moment was over he left, intent on finishing that stack of paperwork on his desk—If nothing else to try and ease his mind from the day's events.

"I-Ichigo . . . I-I—well . . . I-I-I didn't mean to . . . I'm sorry . . ." she mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes, afraid of what they would hold in them.

Ichigo sighed. "What is with you and apologising to me today, Rukia? How many times do I have to tell you 'don't worry, it's not your fault' huh?"

"I'm sorry—"

"There you go again!" He exclaimed, exasperated. "Stop apologising! You. Are. Not. At. Fault. Stop thinking that you are!"

Rukia stared at him, and then sighed. Trust him to know just the right words to calm her down . . . just like Kaien . . .

"Thank you, Ichigo."

"That's more like it." He grinned, then turned serious. "No matter what, Rukia, I won't let you die."

"Idiot," she whispered "this isn't some fight, this is . . . this is a genetic disorder or-whatever-you-call-it. It isn't something you can defeat just by swinging your sword around like a crazed lunatic."

"Then I'll find the cure!"

"It's _incurable_, Ichigo,"

"Rukia," he said looking her straight in the eyes, "I promise you I will find that cure. And when I promise something—"

"—you'll never break that promise, I know." She sighed "I just—" she took a shaky breath "How?" she asked, her voice revealing the emotions that she had for the most part kept hidden. "How are we going to tell Renji and the others?"

Ichigo looked down "I don't know." He said, "I don't know."

* * *

**Gah! Curse you plot bunnies!**

**Rukia: Bunnies?**

**. . . . . Never mind. -sigh- I'm SO sorry about not updating my other stories so far. But I have a serious case of writers block. And when you get writers block, the bunnies appear and won't stop knawing at your mind until you write it down. -sigh- =_=U**


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